09Apr14

US defence secretary clashes with Chinese counterpart

In a joint press conference in Beijing yesterday, US Defence Secretary Chuck
Hagel and Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan traded barbed
comments over territorial disputes in the South China and East China Seas.
The public display of hostility is another warning of the dangerous tensions
that the Obama administration's "pivot to Asia" has provoked throughout the
region.

Hagel set the stage for the verbal clash with Chang earlier in the week, when
in Tokyo he compared China's territorial claims in nearby waters to Russia's
annexation of Crimea. "You cannot go around the world and redefine
boundaries and violate territorial integrity and the sovereignty of nations by
force, coercion or intimidation, whether it's in small islands in the Pacific or in
large nations in Europe," he said.

In both Europe and the Pacific, however, it has been Washington's provocative
actions that have inflamed tensions. In Ukraine, the US engineered a
fascist-led coup in Kiev that prompted Russia to annex Crimea where its Black
Sea fleet is based. In the Asia-Pacific, US has backed allies such as Japan
and the Philippines to take a far more assertive stance over their territorial
claims against China.

In Beijing, Hagel repeated Washington's standard line that "the United States
takes no position on individual claims" in the disputes between Japan and
China over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Clearly, however, the US does
support the "boundaries" and "territorial integrity" as defined by Japan and the
Philippines, against any attempt by China to assert its claims.

Moreover, as Hagel made absolutely clear, the US is prepared to back its
allies with military force. He told the press conference: "The Philippines and
Japan are long-time allies of the United States... We have mutual self-defence
treaties with each of those countries." Then, wagging his finger, Hagel added
that the US was "fully committed to those treaty obligations"--that is, to go to
war against China if need be.

Hagel also publicly criticised China for declaring an air defence identification
zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea last November "unilaterally, with no
collaboration, no consultation." In response, the Pentagon immediately
challenged China's ADIZ by flying nuclear-capable B-52 bombers into the
airspace without prior notification. The potential for a US air clash with China
put the entire region on a knife-edge.

Hagel, however, blamed China for "tensions, misunderstandings... [that] could
eventually add to, and eventually get to, dangerous conflict." Such accusations
against Beijing are being exploited by the US to justify its "rebalance", or
build-up of military forces throughout Asia aimed at encircling China. While in
Japan, Hagel announced the dispatch of two more Aegis destroyers equipped
with anti-ballistic missiles systems to Japanese bases.

Chinese defence minister Chang insisted: "It is Japan who is being
provocative. If you come to the conclusion that China is going to resort to force
against Japan, that is wrong... We will not take the initiative to stir up troubles."
He called for the resolution of the island disputes through negotiation, but
added that China had "indisputable sovereignty" of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islets.
"On this issue, we will make no compromise, no concession--not even a tiny
violation is allowed... We are prepared at any time to cope with any type of
threats and challenges," he warned.

Hagel pressed Chang on other issues, calling on China to do more to rein in
North Korea. He also appealed for the Chinese military to be more open about
its cyber warfare capabilities. "More transparency will strengthen China-US
relations," Hagel said. "Greater openness about cyber reduces the risk that
misunderstanding and misperception could lead to miscalculation."

Hagel's remarks are utterly cynical. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
has exposed the massive electronic spying operations of the US military and
intelligence agencies throughout the world that particularly target China.
Washington claims that the Chinese military has been involved in economic
espionage, yet last month the New York Times reported that the US
intelligence agencies had hacked into the networks of the Chinese
telecommunications giant, Huawei.

The New York Times has also reported that the Pentagon, several months
ago, had briefed Chinese military officials on its cyber warfare capabilities.
The US is planning to triple the number of cyber warfare specialists to 6,000
by the end of 2016. During his comments yesterday, Hagel made clear that the
purpose of the US briefing--undoubtedly very limited in scope--was to solicit
a Chinese briefing. In response, Chang declared that China's cyber activities
"will not pose a threat to others."

Hagel had billed his visit to Beijing as an attempt to improve defence relations
between the two countries. On Monday, he became the first foreign official to
be given a tour of China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. The constant US
calls for greater Chinese transparency about its defence capacities, have
nothing to do with easing tensions. Rather while the US closely guards its
military secrets, it is seeking to gauge the capacities of China as precisely as
possible.

The Washington Post caught the mood of the Hagel-Chang press
conference--"icy body language and barbs telegraphed a relationship utterly
devoid of warmth and very much saddled with suspicion."

The tensions were also evident when Hagel addressed the National Defence
University later yesterday. He was challenged by one officer who accused the
US of stirring up trouble in the East China and South China Seas because it
feared someday that "China will be too big a challenge for the United States to
cope with." He continued: "Therefore you are using such issues... to make
trouble to hamper [China's] development."

Hagel lamely responded, by declaring that "the American rebalance to Asia
Pacific is not to contain China." He will have convinced no one in the audience.
The whole purpose of Hagel's trip to the region--in advance of Obama's tour
later this month--is to reinforce the message that the US military build-up in
the region against China will continue.

[Source: By Peter Symonds, Wsws, Us, 09Apr14]

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